Under A Haystack

When I was a single mother on my own, my mom gave us a place to stay when we needed it, a vehicle to drive when we didn’t have one, and a helping hand with babysitting when I had to work or go somewhere you couldn’t wag a kid along. But since she was a working, single mom herself, our schedules didn’t always synch up. One day I had an appointment at the same time my mother had to be at work, so we appealed to my teenage brother, Todd. Not historically a big babysitter, he required some cajoling, but eventually said he would watch her if I could be back in time for him to go to work. No problem. Except the clock at the insurance agency was slow and I got home to an empty house. I thought he must have had to take her to his job and I called immediately to profusely apologize and say I was on my way. But his response was, “Oh, I totally forgot she was there,” meaning he did not have her. Trying to stay calm, I called my mother, thinking maybe she had the toddler. Which she didn’t. Panic-stricken, I had no idea what to do next when I heard a faint whimper. It turns out Keilana had fallen asleep and rolled off and under the bed out of sight. I think of that every time I read Little Boy Blue. Nursery rhyme or no, missing, sleeping kids are scary.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Boy-Blue-Waldman/dp/0866118683

http://www.paperbackswap.com/Playmore-Inc/author/

And The First Shall Be Last

Sibling groups always debate who got the raw deal in birth order roulette. The middles feel ignored. The babies complain of hand-me-downs. But it doesn’t matter what the other kids say, being the oldest is the hardest. Your parents are at their most neurotic. You get blamed for everything. And you end up being the free, built-in babysitter. For me, being the oldest came with all those things, but the plusses outweighed the minuses--except that whole taking the blame thing. My mother once jumped my case when my brother got PlayDoh on the carpet. And he was thirteen at the time. Seriously. I did do a lot of babysitting, but that was largely by choice. However, with great power comes great responsibility. If you’re going to watch the baby, you better keep on your toes. During one of many adventures with nine month-old Matthew, he fell asleep and I lowered the back of his ancient stroller so that he could lie flat. Unfortunately, when I tipped the stroller to go up a curb, my prone baby brother tumbled onto the street head first. Hysterical with grief and guilt, I grabbed him, leaving the stroller behind in the street, and ran all the way home. He was fine, but I was a mess and have never forgotten that moment. In Catherine Lukas’ Francie the Babysitter, big sister chimp resentfully tends baby brother chimp until he gets in terrible trouble and only she can save him. Sometimes being big comes in handy.

http://www.amazon.com/Francie-Baby-sitter-fabulous-five-minute-stories/dp/1599391015

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